Menu

Mike Brown

The tragic killings of police officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu led some NYPD cops to turn their backs – literally – on New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. Police are reportedly in a work stoppage over what one NYPD leader called a “hostile antipolice environment” after months of Eric Garner and Michael Brown protests. AJ+ pens an open letter asking: Is there a better way forward?

AJ+’s Dena Takruri speaks with Oakland residents the day after the grand jury of St. Louis County decided not to charge police officer Darren Wilson for the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson. Hundreds of protestors had filled Oakland’s streets the night of the announcement, some peacefully marching and tweeting #BlackLivesMatter, others smashing shop windows. The day after, residents voice their concerns in a neighborhood where this story has played out before, with the death of Oscar Grant in 2009, among others.

From Michael Brown to Renisha McBride to Jordan Davis: how murdered black people are portrayed in the media — and the courtroom — has often led to outrage. And after the deaths of Oscar Grant, Trayvon Martin and Eric Garner, the hashtags #IfTheyGunnedMeDown, #APHeadlines and #DangerousBlackKids are one way people have flipped the script.